'Was Asked For Jizya, Threatened With Wife's Abduction': Friend Of Hindu Man Killed In Bangladesh

Last Updated:January 06, 2026, 12:47 IST

A family friend of the Hindu man killed in Bangladesh told CNN-News18 that the deceased was an ordinary man with no political links. He was allegedly threatened with extortion.

A file photo of Sarat Chakraborty Mani (Social Media)

Fresh allegations of targeted violence against Hindus in Bangladesh have surfaced following the killing of Sarat Chakraborty Mani, a 40-year-old Hindu grocery shop owner in Narsingdi district near Dhaka.

Speaking exclusively to CNN-News18, Bappaditya Basu, Assistant Organising Secretary of the Central Executive Committee of the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council and a family friend of the deceased, alleged that Mani was threatened and extorted in the name of Jizya tax before he was brutally murdered.

“In Bangladesh, the situation for Hindus is extremely difficult. What is happening here is ethnic cleansing of Hindus, and this is happening with government backing," Basu told CNN-News18.

He further claimed that multiple violent incidents targeting Hindus had occurred in a short span of time.

“In the last 24 hours, two incidents have taken place," he said, underscoring what he described as a climate of fear among minorities.

Basu stressed that Mani was an ordinary citizen with no political affiliation.

“Sarat was a very normal man. He had no political agenda. He was just running his grocery shop to earn a living," he said.

Making a serious allegation, Basu claimed that Mani had been asked to pay the Jizya tax and was threatened with dire consequences if he approached the authorities.

“He was told to pay Jizya, and he was threatened that if the police were informed, his wife would be kidnapped. Yesterday, he was killed," Basu alleged.

WHAT IS JIZYA TAX?

Jizya was historically a per capita tax levied on non-Muslim adult males living in Islamic states in exchange for protection and the right to practice their faith.

While proponents viewed it as a security levy, critics have long described it as discriminatory.

There is no legal or constitutional provision for such a tax in present-day Bangladesh.

HINDUS KILLED IN BANGLADESH

News agency ANI cited Bangladesh-registered newspaper Weeklyblitz and local media as saying that Mani was attacked on the night of January 6 while he was operating his grocery shop at Charsindur Bazaar in Palash Upazila of Narsingdi district.

Eyewitnesses said unidentified assailants arrived suddenly and attacked him with sharp weapons before fleeing the scene.

Mani sustained critical injuries and died while being taken to the hospital, local media reported.

Mani’s killing marks the sixth reported murder of a Hindu individual in Bangladesh within the past 18 days.

According to local media, Mani had posted on Facebook on December 19 expressing concern over the prevailing violence in the country, describing his birthplace as having turned into a “valley of death".

Police have said they are investigating the incident, though the motive behind the killing has not yet been officially specified.

The same day, another Hindu man was killed in Jessore, Bangladesh.

An ice factory owner, Rana Pratap Bairagi, was shot dead in public in the Monirampur area, according to Prothom Alo.

Bairagi owned an ice manufacturing factory in Kapalia Bazar and was also the acting editor of the newspaper Dainik BD Khobor.

Local media reported that three assailants on a motorcycle called him out of the factory, took him into an alley, and shot him at close range in the head before fleeing.

News world 'Was Asked For Jizya, Threatened With Wife's Abduction': Friend Of Hindu Man Killed In Bangladesh

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